HOUSE BILL 101

57th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2025

INTRODUCED BY

Andrea Reeb

 

 

 

 

 

AN ACT

RELATING TO FIREARMS; MAKING AN EXEMPTION TO UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF A FIREARM AT A POLLING PLACE FOR COMMISSIONED LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICERS.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. Section 1-20-24 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2024, Chapter 50, Section 1) is amended to read:

     "1-20-24. UNLAWFUL POSSESSION OF A FIREARM AT A POLLING PLACE.--

          A. Unlawful possession of a firearm at a polling place consists of possession of a loaded or unloaded firearm by any person within:

                (1) one hundred feet of the door through which voters may enter to vote at a school building in which a polling place is located while early voting is in progress or on election day;

                (2) one hundred feet of the door through which voters may enter to vote at the office of the county clerk, an alternate voting location, a mobile voting site or any location used as a polling place while early voting is in progress or on election day that is not a school; or

                (3) fifty feet of a monitored secured container as used in Subsection E of Section 1-6-9 NMSA 1978, beginning twenty-eight days before an election through election day.

          B. The provisions of Subsection A of this section do not apply to:

                (1) a certified law enforcement officer in performance of the officer's official duties;

                (2) a law enforcement officer who is certified pursuant to the Law Enforcement Training Act acting in accordance with the policies of the officer's law enforcement agency;

                (3) a commissioned law enforcement officer with the power to arrest in performance of the officer's official duties;

                (4) a commissioned law enforcement officer with the power to arrest acting in accordance with the policies of the officer's law enforcement agency;

                [(3)] (5) a person in a private automobile or other private means of conveyance; or

                [(4)] (6) a person carrying a concealed firearm who is in possession of a valid concealed handgun license for that firearm pursuant to the Concealed Handgun Carry Act.

          C. A person conducting lawful, non-election-related business nearer than one hundred feet from the door through which voters may enter to vote or nearer than fifty feet from a monitored secured container is not guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm at a polling place.

          D. A person who commits unlawful possession of a firearm at a polling place is guilty of a petty misdemeanor and shall be sentenced pursuant to Section 31-19-1 NMSA 1978.

          E. For the purposes of this section, "firearm" means a weapon that will or is designed to or may readily be converted to expel a projectile by the action of an explosion, or the frame or receiver of any such weapon."

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